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May 4, 2023Liked by Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Again, Philip K. Dick blazed a path along these lines in The Golden Man, where a non-sapient human mutant emerged with preternatural sex appeal, causing humans to be seduced to interbreed with it and rendering sapience in time extinct.

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Oh, I'd forgotten that one. Should've mentioned it.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Love has conquered all.

Jesus saves all who repent.

In order for there to be love in the afterlife, we must still have choices.

Eventually, all will choose to repent, Jesus will extend time until they do.

Therefore all will be saved.

This is Eventual Universal Salvation.

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Love contains within itself a subset of "Love is Honor and Glory and the upward glance." I admit I do not agree with you because if we truly have free will than we are free to make our own choices however stupid they may appear to others.

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founding

Lou Antolleti (sp) suggest that in some of his story as did Chris Stashoff. All name spelling are guess. It's early... Even the robots because once you can ask if you have a soul, you do.

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I’ve just read your post about high-tech masturbation, in which you couple a discussion of A-I enhanced silicone robots with a fear that they may lead to the extinction of our species. There is another interpretation--

People who prefer plastic Pat and plastic Patty to flesh-and-blood Patricks and Patricias are benefitting the gene pool by removing themselves from it. Instead of extinction, improvement may be the unanticipated result.

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founding

CS Lewis suggested something similar "the uses of Sulla" in the Hideous Strength, where they replace lovers with cunning artifacts. It's just a line or two... There it wasn't a good thing,

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These were “the arts practiced on the dark side of the Moon”, and their aim was contraception. The modern iteration of these arts is fleshed out (as it were) here.

The gee-whiz technology clouds the ancient proscription against worshipping images. There are a million ways to “debunk” this proscription, but all ultimately fail. Religion, stigmatized as “pie in the sky”, is, in the end, the greatest realism because it points to infinity.

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founding

Well, that Vanity Fair linked opened to a link I never expected from Instapundit.

I don't know. I suspect all of our guesses will be wrong. Humans haven't been that great at predicting long term trends. See the War to End All War, any of the climate/population claims, etc.

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The Vanity Fair link didn’t surprise me, since I’ve known for a long time that Glenn Reynolds (from my POV) had a blind spot with regard to sex.

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They said I shouldn't read science fiction....just junk they said.....AI is so awesome, and scary at the same time. One of the most amazing scenes to me in Star Wars was when Luke was hurt and they replaced his arm/hand with a robotic one that looked, felt, and acted like the real one. This will happen someday.

In the movie "her", he has a "girlfriend" in his ear that he can't see feel or touch. 50 years from now, you could walk into a bar and hit on a robot thinking it's a women and you won't know the difference until it plugs itself in to recharge itself after you have done the deed.

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Another enjoyable essay with some points to ponder. The human condition is unpredictable and dynamic, so this will play out in real time before us. Alas, this game has no reset button, so some prudence and judgement would be helpful.

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Sexy robots seem inevitable. But the human desire for reproduction is just that. Reproduction.

Take it a step forward and imagine robot children. Indistinguishable from one’s own. Disease and heartache free.

Could someone love such a “child?”

I suspect so.

I’ve said it before, but I’m less and less interested in Glenn’s desire for life extension as I get older myself.

Thanks for another thought-provoking essay.

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If you don’t like Child 1.0, just download Child 1.1.

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I would have never read this had it not appeared in my email. I am a paid subscriber, w/a modest blog. I am now a 2 trick pony since Sharon and I moved to Camelot. Had visions of you publishing my article on Drug pricing. I could never be as eloquent as you, but there is a message in there that I think is important-you are much admired. If you ever have a change in your cold heart- please let me know, Cause I have my hands full w/Don's and my blog. He created a monster. Stay Frosty and click me sometime. King Lear

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Such high tech physical companions would be prohibitively expensive initially (think computers & EVs) but the rich could afford harems. If this were to trickle down to the Western general population, probable placement would be in bordellos* (where one could pre-program names and proclivities) and then, house calls (think WhoreDash) for the whole adult** family.

*not necessarily a bad thing

**there'll be laws against children sex-bots

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'Porn' has been a leading-edge driving factor of technology since Playboy (simple idolization of the female form) to video tape, to digital streaming and upcoming ChatBots and VR.

A market of bots may succeed as males would love to return to the 'Girl Next Door' sweetness of Playboy, with the benefit of being admired and desired. While that works for many males, still unanswered is Freud's question, "What do women want?"

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I agree with facebook friend: women mostly look for someone who will be financially successful and stable. Hard to find that in a home-based robot.

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Quite an amusing piece.

And after all women using birth control are what our engineers are working toward. The result is the same.

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